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What is sociology?
Sociology 111
Fall 2008
Sociology is the study of…
 social phenomenon
 Social interaction and social structure
 Human social life in all its variations
Sociologists…
 Look for social
patterns
 Emphasis on groups,
not individuals
 Acknowledges
individual variations
(agency or free will)
Goes beyond “common
sense”
 Empirical, scientific research
 Sometimes confirms “common sense”
 Often turns it on its head
 Most people are amateur “sociologists”
 Use our experiences, the traditions passed
on to us to explain
Three research objectives
 Describe
 Analyze and explain
 Predict
A fourth objective
 Improving society and bettering human
conditions.
 Many successfully combine scientific inquiry
with an aim towards social progress.
 A minority reject this as incompatible
w/scientific inquiry.
 Reflect the specific historical context from
which sociology emerged.
Enlightenment
 Science in place of
tradition
 Emphasis on
observation and
empirical results
 Human rights
 Industrial Revolution
 Massive social
upheaval &
demographic shift
 Gave rise to
Progressive
Movement
 Emphasis on praxis
Industrial Revolution
 Massive social upheaval & demographic
shift
 Gave rise to Progressive Movement
 Emphasis on praxis
 Most of the early American
sociologists were ministers
or children of ministers
Sociology
 Is the study of
patterns of human
interaction,
organization, and
structure.
 Conducts rigorous
research with the aim
of either directly or
indirectly bettering
human societies.